Strategic Workforce Planning in the Age of AI Conference

After many years in the ‘corporate world’ in Retail HR, Jo Dodds started her own home based business in August 2005 publishing a local community magazine in her town. She expanded the business over the following three years to include, at one stage, eight local magazines. She did this mainly through business networking: connecting with local business people, getting to know them and helping them to achieve their business goals (and not necessarily through advertising in her magazines!). After a stint supporting SMEs to improve their online marketing, including focusing on social media in its early days, Jo returned to her HR roots in 2012 working with organisations to maximise their employee engagement with a specialism in using social and digital tools to enable communication and collaboration. She now works with home based coaches and consultants within her online membership programme helping to improve their marketing, productivity and wellbeing, in these days of overwhelm, whether that be physical, mental or digital, using her POWER to Live More 5 Fundamentals of Simplify, Systemise, Share, Self Care and Sustain.

David’s earlier career spans leadership roles across technology, banking and consulting. At NatWest Group, he led a strategic workforce management programme – one of the earliest of its kind – that has since reduced costs by hundreds of millions through smarter fulfilment, workforce mobility, and planning innovation. His is an eclectic background, having also worked in finance, consulting and operations in organisations ranging from the UK National Health Service to startup software ventures. He has experienced triumphs and disasters, and treasures both for what they’ve taught him. 

A passionate advocate for making workforce planning practical, human, and actually useful, David has spent much of his career helping businesses bridge the gap between ambition and execution. His work focuses on helping leaders make better long-term decisions about people, skills, cost and capability – without drowning in process or jargon. 

He is a member of the Workforce Planning Institute’s Global Standards Committee and a regular co-chair of its London conference. A sought-after speaker and writer on workforce strategy, David’s writing is known for its clarity, wit and refusal to accept lazy orthodoxy, with a distinctive voice that is part strategist, part storyteller, and part disbelieving onlooker. His first book, The Strategic Workforce Planning Handbook, is released in January 2026. 

Originally from Suffolk, David is a lifelong supporter of Ipswich Town FC and claims (with some justification) that the club’s fluctuating fortunes have given him a grounding in hope, realism and improbability – surprisingly useful qualities for a workforce planner. 

He has long since retired from golf, sings soul and blues when anywhere near a microphone and remains unsure how his professional life ended up involving discussions about fish cakes. 

David lives in Hampshire UK with his wife of forty years, Fiona, and his yappy dog Dylan. 

Before I tell you my credentials, let me tell you a bit about me. I’m Emma, I’m a mum, a dog mum and Captain of my local hockey team. I am a Trustee for Smart Works Leeds, which is a Women’s employability charity. It’s really close to my heart so I always make sure I jump on my bike for their annual fundraiser. 

I’m also part of OVO’s People Team, where our job is to curate a culture of world changers in a great place to work. 

I have 20+ years of experience, mainly in the energy sector and in my role I often act as a playmaker to deliver the big and most challenging organisational change programmes across the business. I’m passionate about people and making a difference. 

Neil is the Director of HR and Communications for FTSE100 water company, Severn Trent with responsibility for the HR, communications, press and marketing teams.  Prior to joining Severn Trent his career has taken him across multiple industries and sectors, including media, retail, B2B and the public sector.

From his early career supporting the delivery of one of the first private finance partnerships in the NHS, through the introduction of pioneering ecommerce in retail, he has led organisation through significant change and was one of the leads in the global merger between Penguin and Random House, the largest merger in publishing history.

Neil sits on the Youth Futures Foundation Board and has previously served on the board of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development and the Board of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. He was one of the inaugural members of the REC’s Good Recruitment Campaign and sits on the Social Mobility Commission’s Employer Panel.

After many years in the ‘corporate world’ in Retail HR, Jo Dodds started her own home based business in August 2005 publishing a local community magazine in her town. She expanded the business over the following three years to include, at one stage, eight local magazines. She did this mainly through business networking: connecting with local business people, getting to know them and helping them to achieve their business goals (and not necessarily through advertising in her magazines!). After a stint supporting SMEs to improve their online marketing, including focusing on social media in its early days, Jo returned to her HR roots in 2012 working with organisations to maximise their employee engagement with a specialism in using social and digital tools to enable communication and collaboration. She now works with home based coaches and consultants within her online membership programme helping to improve their marketing, productivity and wellbeing, in these days of overwhelm, whether that be physical, mental or digital, using her POWER to Live More 5 Fundamentals of Simplify, Systemise, Share, Self Care and Sustain.